Ridiculous turnout

By David Hotle | Jun 03, 2013

Gary Murphy as Bandana the Clown drives a riding mower during the annual Ridiculous Day parade Saturday afternoon. Murphy took second place in the parade judging contest.

As she was opening up Edge 2 Monday morning, manager Angi Staley reflected on the crowd that had visited her store Saturday as part of the Ridiculous Day celebration. She said that the store was packed the entire day. With most of the inventory on clearance to make room for new items, Staley said she believed word got around about the low prices on the items. She said it came as a pleasant shock how busy the store was. “We sold in one day what we would normally sell in a month,” she said. “I think everyone came through multiple times.” As of this morning, Washington Chamber of Commerce director Michelle Peiffer and Ridiculous Day organizer Dean Kurtz both said not only would the annual event return next year, but that it would be bigger and better than ever. Peiffer said that the event had gone “excellent,” and that there had been a large crowd throughout the day. She also said that the new events — including the superhero contest and Minute to Win It — had worked out very well. Kurtz said that the number of the parade entries were down slightly from last year, with only 40 entries. He said that this still was plenty to make for a good parade. Peiffer also credited the good weather for the good turnout. “We had more people than we had ducks,” Kurtz said of the event where Washington Fire Department divers throw ducks with prizes from the fountain. “We hope to take care of that in the future.” He said he was pleased with the numbers of people who turned out to the event, saying there was a large group most of the day. He also said he liked the results of the duct tape craft contest, saying it brought entries from as far away as Mt. Pleasant. This year Kurtz and announcer Dave Stoufer dressed as the brothers from the show Duck Dynasty. They blew duck calls as the ducks flew from the fountain to the waiting crowd. Around the square, 28 businesses had sidewalk sales during Ridiculous Day. Kurtz and Peiffer said that, even with this year’s Ridiculous Day signage still out in the lobby of the chamber building, planning has already begun for next year’s event. Peiffer promises, with the 175th anniversary of Washington celebration coming up next year, that the event will be the biggest and best Ridiculous Day ever. “It will be an all-day event next year and it will be part of the nine-day celebration from June 1 through June 8,” Peiffer said. “We are going to be looking for a lot more community support and people who want to get involved and active.” A committee wrap-up meeting will be held in about two weeks.